1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and a device for transporting and distributing materials and/or equipment around the periphery of a building.
The invention can be used in the technical field of building construction or renovation works or civil engineering works.
It also relates to a device supplementing equipment which is widely used by builders, i.e. the various types of scaffolding and platforms used for external building works.
2. Description of Background and Material Information
The distribution of various equipment and/or materials around the periphery of a building so that external works can be carried out takes place from the ground using either cranes or mobile elevating machines, or even manually on the working platform or the flooring of the scaffolding.
Cranes provide access to all points of the building exterior, but the costs of using them to carry out external works is very high. In addition, the crane driver's lack of visibility of the external walls opposite the crane is a serious source of danger. As a result of these drawbacks, cranes are hardly ever used to carry out external works.
Mobile elevating machines have a limited working height and allow a satisfactory distribution of equipment and materials only if these machines can circulate around the entire periphery of the buildings, which is seldom the case in practice.
Finally, manual movement on working platforms is difficult and costly. The fatigue caused by such work can be reduced by trucks moving on the floor of the platform since this rolling equipment is inexpensive and easy to move. This method is not or is little used, however, since the space which the trucks occupy impedes movement on the platforms and work itself. The center of gravity of the loads also has to be low if these trucks are to be stable. Loads must therefore be low and wider than they are high.